President Donald Trump has ordered a halt to a decades-old program dating back to the George W. Bush administration that has saved millions of lives abroad by distributing HIV medications to low-income countries, The New York Times reported — "even if the drugs have already been obtained and are sitting in local clinics."
The shutdown of the program, known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, is part of a broader directive by the Trump administration to suspend nearly all foreign aid, except for emergency food assistance and arms deals for Egypt and Israel. It also comes amid Trump's move to withdraw the United States from the World Health Organization, which many in the GOP have accused of being overly protective of the Chinese government during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That foreign aid pause only applies for three months. However, according to The Times, "On Monday afternoon, officials worldwide were alerted that PEPFAR’s data systems would shut down at 6 p.m. Eastern — roughly three hours after the email was received — immediately closing off access to all data sets, reports and analytical tools," which has some experts worried the Trump administration has no plans to restart the program.
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Meanwhile, the report continued, "Appointments are being canceled, and patients are being turned away from clinics, according to people with knowledge of the situation who feared retribution if they spoke publicly. Many people with H.I.V. are facing abrupt interruptions to their treatment."
PEPFAR is widely considered one of Bush's greatest legacies as president and is thought to have saved around 25 million lives worldwide, with many being in Africa where HIV has ravaged communities for decades. However, many Republican lawmakers who distrust family planning care have wanted to get rid of it for years.
Already, PEPFAR was in jeopardy under former President Joe Biden's administration, with significant cuts to the program planned even before Trump was re-elected.
"Without treatment, virus levels in people with H.I.V. will quickly spike, hobbling the immune systems of the infected people and increasing the odds that they will spread the virus to others," The Times noted. "One study estimated that if PEPFAR were to end, as many as 600,000 lives would be lost over the next decade in South Africa alone. And that nation relies on PEPFAR for only 20 percent of its H.I.V. budget. Some poorer countries are almost entirely dependent on the program."